“Keeping 100lbs Off! How Keto Along With the Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® Program Became My Sweet Success.”
Keeping 100lbs off isn’t easy. Statistics say only 1–3% of people succeed — but at 62, I’m still thriving, pain-free, and disease-free. I’ve hiked 25 miles across the Grand Canyon, I jog half marathons for fun, and I’ve built a career helping women over 50 reclaim their health.
But it wasn’t always this way.
I lost my 30s and 40s to obesity, depression, prediabetes, PCOS, anxiety, allergies, and asthma. I was always hungry, exhausted, and ashamed. At my heaviest I weighed 225 lbs, raising three children while feeling trapped in a body I didn’t recognize or love.
I tried every diet. I’d lose weight, then gain it back. Interestingly, when I did lose the weight, I never lost the inflammation. Over and over. My life felt like a merry-go-round of diets, cravings, and failure. Walking was the only thing I could manage, but it didn’t help me lose weight. Deep down, I still longed for what every woman wants — to feel pretty, comfortable, and confident in my own body.
Then came the moment that officially launched my weight loss journey: one day in my mid-30s, my husband asked, “When will you lose the weight?” It cut deep — but it also lit a fire.
Searching for Answers
I hit the books. I read every diet book I could find. I transitioned from Susan Powter and fat free into paleo and ancestral health, bought and devouring cookbooks and nutrition guides. I discovered Gary Taubes’ Why We Get Fat and Dr. William Davis’ Wheat Belly, and learned how carbs could drive weight gain and inflammation.
But still, I couldn’t lose easily. I was still addicted to wheat and sugars from fruit and honey. My brain was exhausted and insulin resistant. I had the desire, but not the energy or clarity to fully implement what I was learning.
I tried HCG. It worked temporarily — the weight dropped, my brain switched on, and I felt alive again. But of course, the pounds came back. Still, it gave me a glimpse of possibility: maybe my metabolism wasn’t broken forever.
That hope stayed alive, largely because of something my mom taught me. She always modeled that our health is in our own hands. As a child battling obesity and depression, she put me on the Atkins diet when the medical system couldn’t help. For the first time, my weight dropped and my depression lifted. That lesson — to keep searching, keep experimenting — never left me.
Discovering Keto
In 2016, I found the Bulletproof Diet and Dave Asprey. Keto changed everything. It wasn’t just another diet; it gave me my life back.
The weight didn’t melt off all at once — I lost about 20 lbs initially — but for the first time, I reversed prediabetes. My asthma and allergies began to ease. My eye health improved. And best of all, my brain turned back on. Ketones gave me focus, clarity, and energy I hadn’t felt in decades.
It wasn’t the end of my journey, but it was a turning point. Keto kept me learning, experimenting, and carrying low-carb food with me everywhere I went. I never cheated, because I wasn’t just dieting anymore — I was healing my metabolism. I was finally living.
Three years later, I finally broke another barrier. With the help of digestive enzymes, 15 lbs dropped off in 3 months. My energy skyrocketed. I started half marathons and felt a fire inside me. For the first time, I was not only slender but pain-free.
Finding Functional Diagnostic Nutrition®
In 2020, another door opened. With my European trip canceled, I enrolled in the Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® (FDN) program — and it lit me on fire.
I powered through the training in five months while working full-time, studying nights and weekends. For once, everything clicked. I wasn’t just reading theories; I was learning how to use labs to see inside my body.
When I ran my own labs in 2020 & 2021, the missing puzzle pieces finally came together. I discovered food sensitivities to wheat and dairy, suppressed adrenals, low cortisol, and a struggling gut and immune system.
When I removed dairy, it was like flipping a switch: asthma gone, allergies reduced, congestion cleared. My inflammation dropped, my gut began healing, and my body released more weight.
Then, because I transitioned full time to working at home as a keto health coach while building my FDN business, I began to ground and get more sunlight in the middle of the day. I was no longer under indoor lighting. I dropped thee rest of my weight–20lbs! It was effortless as I had healed and recovered my metabolism.
By my 60th birthday, I had lost a total of 100 lbs — and for the first time, I knew it was permanent. I now know how to lose weight, even in menopause when everyone else states, “it’s just aging.”
Thriving in My 60s
I celebrated by hiking 25 miles rim-to-rim across the Grand Canyon. I run half marathons yearly now, pain-free. I walk 10 miles at a time comfortably. I’m active, confident, and disease-free.
And the best part? I’ve never gained the weight back and it’s been two years. It feels amazing. Confidence, joy and waking up without fear I will gain the weight back–priceless.
Unlike every other attempt in my past, this time I had the tools:
- Keto for metabolic repair and fuel.
- FDN for root-cause discovery.
- Labs to guide my healing protocols.
FDN not only changed my life, it allowed me to help others. I ran labs on my brother, who was over 300 lbs and told to start insulin by his doctor–he chose diet. He got me and FDN. By following his protocol, he reversed diabetes and is thriving today.
Meanwhile, I had lost two sisters to disease. The difference wasn’t luck — it was having the right information, the right tools, and the determination to apply them.
Why FDN Matters
FDN gave me purpose and passion. It gave me community and education. It gave me the ability to be a “health detective” and find what doctors couldn’t see. FDN gave me tools and community as fuel to live my life as a health adventure with enthusiasm. FDN helped me find ME.
It’s why I was able to create and implement my Holistic Low Carb Method™ and the Aging Beautifully & Adventurously Process™. Because women over 50 deserve more than symptom-chasing and quick fixes. They deserve a system that works.
At 62, I am pain-free, disease-free, and thriving. I never developed diabetes, despite my family history. I reversed metabolic dysfunction. And I’m keeping 100 lbs off — something most people say is impossible.
Conclusion
Very few women succeed in keeping 100 lbs off. I’m proud to be one of them — not because of willpower or dieting harder, but because of keto, FDN, and a passion for treating health as a lifelong adventure.
FDN gave me the tools to heal, the freedom to live, and the mission to inspire others. It turned my pain into purpose — and my purpose into passion.
And that’s my sweet success.
Aging Adventurously,
Lori Balue
Obesity Survivor • Keto Weight Loss Expert
Certified FDN Practitioner • Founder of the Holistic Low Carb Method™ and author of the HLCM Recipes for Aging Beautifully for Longevity